Girls’ Brigade

 

Our company is special, it is family, it is nurturing, it is a safe place, it is where girls can come as they are and feel valued. 

We have a great team of leaders that are invested and committed to the work of Girls’ Brigade and to support each of our members.  We provide a varied weekly programme on Monday evenings from September to April for girls aged 3 to 18.  With the focus of sharing the love and kindness of our Lord and Saviour using the motto of The Girl’s Brigade to “Seek, Serve and Follow Christ”.

About Us

We have five sections that the girls are divided into:

The girls in this section may be small but they are filled with lots and lots of energy.  They enjoy playing games, singing fun songs, learning how God loves them with fun interactive lessons, develop fine motor skills through movement and get to be a bit messy making fun crafts.

Tinies Uniform: White plain open neck blouse, GB navy tunic with GB crest, navy pants, white plain ankle socks, white PE slippers and long hair tied up with white ribbon.

Don’t all girls just love to explore and learn new and wonderful things! This section works towards their Bronze, Silver and Gold Explorer Stars (one badge can be achieved each year).  The programme for Explorers is a long list so each week varies in activities; from playing games, dancing, singing, painting and craft, running around, choral speaking and making life-long friends.  We want our girls to explore lots of things in life but most importantly though is that we want our girls to explore and get to know Jesus and His love for each of them through our Scripture class.

Explorer uniform: White plain open neck blouse, GB navy tunic with GB crest, navy pants, white plain ankle socks, white PE slippers and long hair tied up with white ribbon.

At this age, girls become more curious and want to learn new skills. In Juniors, we start working with the girls to help equip them for how to deal with the world that surrounds them.  We do this by looking at four areas, Spiritual, Physical, Educational and Service, which forms part of the Junior Circles that girls can achieve each year. This group likes to be kept busy and enjoy doing a variety of activities that are interactive and fun, eg. Baking, sewing, scrapbook projects, research topics, playing team games and figure marching to name just a few.

Junior uniform: GB navy v-neck sweatshirt, white plain open neck blouse, GB navy tunic with GB crest, navy pants, white plain ankle socks, white PE slippers, long hair tied up with white ribbon and Junior section badge.

Teenagers deal with lots of challenges and it is felt at times that it is hard to keep girls at this age interested in church activities.  Well, we have seen this section grow each year. Why?  Because girls want to engage in new experiences and opportunities.  They are finding their voice and GB gives them the opportunities to use it but in a controlled environment.  More and more girls question the existence of God and we feel it is essential to have a scripture class where girls can utilise resources to help them connect with God on a personal and intimate way.  Seniors also use the four-side programme, Spiritual, Physical, Educational and Service.  They like to be kept busy, learn new basic skills eg. First aid, cooking meals, singing and they also enjoy discussion groups on a range of subjects from beauty to drug awareness.

Senior uniform: GB navy v-neck sweatshirt, white plain open neck blouse, PLAIN navy track bottoms, plain white ankle socks, white PE slippers, long hair tied up with white ribbon and Senior section badge.

With all the stress and strains that school brings, GB is a safe haven where girls come to shut out the pressure they constantly feel.  Our main focus is on our Scripture class and encouraging the girls to have a more personal and relaxed time to focus on God and to develop a stronger relationship with Him.  We do throw in the odd, team games, walks around the community, uni-hoc, hand crafts and singing too.  But the bit the girls like the best is chill out time when they pop the kettle on, munch their way through a packet Toffypops and get to know each other better.  Using the four-sided programme, (guided through the PSALT files which stands for Practical and Spiritual Applications for Living Today) Brigaders work to achieve at least 10 points each year to gain their Brigader triangles. Upon achieving 40 points (over at least 3 years) they are award with their Brigader Brooch.

Brigader uniform: GB navy v-neck sweatshirt, white plain open neck blouse, PLAIN navy track bottoms, plain white ankle socks, white PE slippers, long hair tied up with white ribbon and Brigader section badge.

Important Information

Uniform is an important element of GB and encourages commitment, respect and discipline from the girls.  To purchase official GB uniform visit www.gbnishop.co.uk (to save on postage, let me know and I can collect it to save you the postage fee.  Write in the notes section “give to Leeanne” and tick for collection before completing the order; I’ll bring into GB the next Monday evening, this is one of the perks of working at GBHQ).  Please note, the GB crest is covered by copyright and can only be embroidered by GBNI on to uniform.  Tunics and sweatshirts purchased from third party suppliers are not authorised to print the GB crest therefore should be sold without the GB Crest and it is no longer possible to buy a woven GB crest to stitch onto the uniform.  I would strongly recommend purchasing your daughter’s tunic and sweatshirt from GBNI.

To reduce costs and depending on size, plain open-necked white blouses maybe purchased from places like Tesco or Asda.

If you have any old uniforms that you would be willing to pass on to another child, please can you bring it with you on any company night.  If we have a size that fits your child, we will be happy to swap sizes with you, as it’s good to help each other.  If you have no uniform to swap and would like to avail of one of our second-hand uniforms, we will ask for a small donation into GB funds at the tIf you have any old uniforms that you would be willing to pass on to another child, please can you bring it with you on any company night.  If we have a size that fits your child, we will be happy to swap sizes with you, as it’s good to help each other.  If you have no uniform to swap and would like to avail of one of our second-hand uniforms, we will ask for a small donation into GB funds at the time of collecting the uniform.  We will hold the uniform for one week before releasing it to another girl.

Meeting Times:  NB. Subject to change

Meet the team

We are very excited for this coming year for what God is going to do in Woodlands GB.  We are praying for each of the girls as they walk through the doors on Monday nights that GB will create an opportunity for us to share the love and joy that knowing Jesus brings.  By providing a varied programme, we hope to nurture and equip girls for their future experiences.  Each section is run by the following leaders:

Sign up to Woodlands GB

If you feel GB is something you would like your daughter to be a part of, please know that she will be made very welcome at Woodlands GB and our team of leaders will do everything they can to help them settle into their section as quickly as possible. 

You can register your child for our 2023/24 GB Session by clicking here. We have also added a GB hoodie pre-order section at the end of the form.  We also will be running a registration/open night on Monday 4th September where you can come along to pay membership fees, order a GB hoodie, avail of our uniform swap shop and get answers to any queries you may have.

Our first meeting night back with the girls will be Monday 11th September 2023, running our normal times for all sections.

Each year, all girls must register to attend on a weekly basis, along with a one-off registration fee of £30 per girl, £50 for a family of two and £70 for a family of three.  Payments can be made in one lump sum or by weekly instalments up until 7th November (speak to Leeanne if you want to pay in instalments).  You can make payment by Bacs Transfer (Account name Woodlands Presbyterian Church, Woodlands Girls Brigade, Sort code 95-06-89, Account no 60069493 and add the following reference GB Fees and your child’s name): or on the night by cash (place inside an envelope marked with your child’s name) or by cheque (made payable to Woodlands Girls’ Brigade).

Part of this payment goes towards the work of Girls’ Brigade centrally and covers the insurance for your child to be at GB each week.  The rest will go towards resources and materials to be used by the girls on a weekly basis, so it is very important that the registration fee is paid.  If your daughter is new to GB, please do not buy uniform until she has settled in her section for a few weeks. 

Please note: You can check out the GBNI Privacy Notice via www.gbni.co.uk/privacy. In Woodlands GB, we collect the data on behalf of the church and only use your data for emergencies, general updates or reminders about GB and the odd promotion of other activities happening around church.  We don’t share your data with anyone else.  Only the legal parents/guardians can sign the form.  Please note if your daughter is aged 13 or over, she will need to sign the form regarding data consent to allow us to process her information.  Due to GDPR we are not permitted to keep the consent forms for any longer than needed, however we still need to keep photo consent for future use.  We have a text messaging service for those once in a blue moon reminders or emergencies.  We promise not to bombarded you with daily texts and feel free to ask to be withdrawn from this service at any point.

Prayer points:

  • Pray that God will remain at the heart of our GB company and that we keep our focus on Him and His word.  Pray that amazing opportunities will arise, that girls will open their hearts to His love and grace.
  • Pray that the girls will come faithfully each week and engage in every aspect of GB.  That they will feel safe and secure in their surroundings.  That they will build in confident and learn new skills.  That they will have fun and meet new friends.
  • Pray that the leaders will focus on the importance of GB.  Just not the practical elements but the real work of GB, that they will continue to have the passion and heart to share the Gospel with every girl.  Pray that they will come prepared each week to deliver a fun programme that the girls will enjoy.  Pray that God will use their individual gifts and talents.
  • Pray for the girl who has not yet heard of GB.  Pray that an opportunity arises that someone may tell her about GB and invites her along to Woodlands. 
  • Pray for our Church Leadership as they guide and support our GB company.

If you have any further queries, please email woodlandsgirlsbrigade@gmail.com.

For more information on the work of Girls’ Brigade, check out the following websites: